1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for transcoding media programs, and in particular to a system and method for hybrid transcoding of media programs.
2. Description of the Related Art
The dissemination and playback of media programs has undergone substantial changes in the past decade. Previously, media programs (which may include audio, video, or both) were disseminated either by analog broadcast (conventional, satellite, or cable) or by dissemination of films to movie theaters.
These traditional dissemination and playback means remain in use after the advent of digital technology. However, digital technologies have had a profound effect on the dissemination and playback of media programs. Particularly, digital technology has permitted the dissemination and playback of large number of media programs via the Internet using high bandwidth communications links implemented by DSL, fiber optics, cable, or satellite transmission. The dissemination of such media programs via the Internet may comprise simple downloading, progressive downloading, or streaming.
Media programs are typically transcoded before transmission to the subscriber to view or record. Transcoding is a process by which a media program is transformed from one digital form to another, typically, from a raw digital format, such as pulse code modulated (PCM) for audio and colorspace (YUV) for video into a compressed digital format such as MPEG (motion pictures expert group) or H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. Transcoding can greatly compress the associated media program to one of reduced size. In fact, the transmission of media programs over the Internet would be largely infeasible without such compression. However, such transcoders often do not allow transcoding of the media program in such a way so as to maximize the use of available bandwidth, particularly where the bit rate of the transcoded media program is temporally variable and the communications channel. The present invention satisfies that need.